Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with leaders of Israel’s English-speaking community Wednesday, emphasizing his commitment to focusing on issues of specific interest to the Anglo community.
The meeting, which was hosted at the Prime Minister’s residence, included a diverse demographic of younger and older immigrants from English-speaking countries; it is part of a wider campaign from the Likud party to reach out to the Anglo community in Israel.
Netanyahu opened his remarks by stressing the need for continued public pressure on keeping the Iranian issue on the forefront of international concern, and explicitly promised his audience that he would do everything in his control to prevent the Iranian regime from producing a nuclear weapon arsenal.
Describing his unwavering commitment to the Iranian issue as an “obligation”, the Prime Minister directly responded to critics by saying, “I don’t think the survival of Israel is a partisan issue.”
Ahead of the elections, the Prime Minister, accompanied by his wife Sara, appealed to an audience familiar with Western-style political systems to recognize that only a decisive victory for the Likud in the March election, in his words, would produce a stable government. He suggested that any other scenario would make it difficult to form a lasting government capable of enacting much-needed economic reforms.
In response to audience questions that asked for his views on social and economic issues, the Prime Minister welcomed the opportunity to present his record of accomplishments.
Directly addressing his political opponents, Netanyahu said that while they are apt at presenting proposals and concepts, “the Likud knows how to solve problems and get things done.”
In regards to the housing crisis, he said that he has prioritized investment in advancing residential development and transportation infrastructure in the periphery, which he said would be the primary way to address the rising prices.
With the room filled with immigrants from the West, Netanyahu said that he viewed encouraging aliyah as an imperative for his government. In reference to an audience question about growing anti-Semitism, he said Israel would welcome every Jew who wants to come home.
“How many places in the world can Jews proudly go out on the streets and say ‘I am a Jew?’” he noted. “Here they can.”
“This event proves the commitment of the Prime Minister to a involving all sectors of the Israeli population in this campaign,” Jeremy Wimpfheimer, co-Manager of the Likud’s English Language campaign, said. “The reality is that as Western immigrants to Israel, we have specific interests in how we choose how to vote and the Prime Minister invested the time to again reiterate why the Likud is the natural choice for all those who believe in strengthening our country through the coming elections.”
